December...already?

Blog. What blog? I seem to have slipped out of the habit of writing a few lines of prose every second or third ride. I think that at some point this summer I started thinking that perhaps there was not a lot new under the sun when it comes to riding around Mercer/Hunterdon/Ocean counties and I just didn't head for the keyboard after the ride.
Perhaps needless to say I certainly did not give up on the bike. I was, in fact, out today for a very pleasant forty+ miles - December fourth by the calendar but I was in shorts and sweating with a long sleeved jersey. It was a kind of re-entry ride. Coming up on the end of October I was on track to hit my target mileage of five thousand miles but the fates intervened. The first big blow (pun intended) was Sandy...We were, of course, housebound for a couple of days hiding from the storm: high winds, lots of rain and generally miserable. Halfway through the "dark and stormy night" the lights and everything electric went out. As it turned out we were without power for eight days: i.e., no lights, no electronics (PC/TV)and no heat. The first night Susan and I played scrabble by candlelight and it was kind of fun, like camping out. The next night the temperature dropped to 30 degrees and it became a little less fun. We found the big down comforter and did some snuggling to get through the cold nights. Meantime we camped out in Wegmans (local super-supermarket) for power, heat and meals. And all that being said...we were lucky: no trees on the house, no six feet of water throughout the house - there are many others who are still suffering.
All of which is to say that I was not out riding a bike for awhile. The rains were not so bad but the downed trees in this area were incredible. Roads were closed, live wires on streets, and in some cases trees into houses. Even today I'm seeing the power companies out replacing wires, power poles and finishing the repairs they started a month ago. The amount of debris at the roadside could provide the raw materials for a small lumber yard.
So by Thanksgiving we had recovered - among other things had to restock the fridge, everything we had was tossed in the garbage - and a large part of our family here for dinner: Katherine and her three and Kelli sent two of her three (she had to work). A great time was had by all - Thanksgiving is truly one of Susan's best holidays and she did herself proud.
One of the inevitable consequences of being a grandparent is that in any group of grandkids (there were five for T-giving) you can almost guarantee that at any given time at least one of them will be carrying the germs of the last head cold that raced through the 1st grade, the eighth grade or maybe even the whole school. When the games had been played, the football games watched and all the dishes put away Susan and I collapsed in bed and my last thought was how successfull I had been at avoiding the one child who seemed to have the sniffles...So Friday came and I got my first ride in three weeks: cold but somebody wrote that the average T-giving meal is around 3500 calories - and that's before the pumpkin pie - and the average 50 mile ride is good for about 3000 calories. Good start, right? Sunday morning I woke up with the scratchy throat, the beginning of a runny nose and immediately went to the medicine cabinet. I poured every known remedy into my body throughout the day but to no avail...Monday morning I was totally gone to the cold - achy, feverish, carrying around my own personal box of Kleenex - long story short, the cold lasted a full six days (and of course Susan finally got it as well).
Which brings me back to the beginning. I finally got out again today and was able to finally pass the 4000 mile mark for the year. I know I will be out again as long as the weather holds (no snow, temps above 40, light winds) but I've stopped chasing the 5K mark for this year. I've explored much of Ocean county this year along with the eastern side of Mercer...not so many hills as we have to the west but beautiful horse farm country. There were also a couple of centuries to mark the summer - one of them punctuated by a heavy duty thunderstorm for the last five miles, a somewhat frightening experience.
On another note, I learned that one of my 09 XC colleagues, Barbie, got herself engaged a few weeks ago and I wish her all the very best...She deserves it.
Another rider from the Maine/Fla ride did the west coast from Washington to the Mexican border...other than the fact that he camped (not my preference) it looked like a fantastic experience. I was glad he shared his photos and comments but it did stir up more than a few thoughts of 2013...who knows?

It's been awhile....

It has truly been an up and down month or so. I read one of my XC colleague's blog account of his first century of the year a couple of weeks ago and could only be a bit envious. Susan and I went to Florida for Easter and for 2 and a half weeks I didn't even touch a bike. Actually, I did almost no exercise other than a few laps in our pool. I came home in mid April feeling like I needed to learn how to move all over again. Since then I have managed to get out but very inconsistently. I think I need some concrete motivation, I wish I was looking forward to another cross-country or Maine to Florida. I looked through some of the blogs of this year's XC ride and will be riding vicariously with them but, truth be told, I would rather be at Manhattan Beach heading across LA next Sunday morning...So much for the self-pity: it is threatening rain today and I need to get out before it ruins the day.

Shorts in March

It seems that I've been talking so much about weather this winter that every reference has become a kind of cliche. At the same time riding in shorts and short sleeves on the 14th of March is definitely not the expected pattern. I came back from yesterday's ride and the temperature was 73 degrees. And, as can be seen from the photos, the sun was out without a cloud in the sky. I passed a kind of ramsheckle farmhouse with all the laundry hanging out to dry - it may be hard to see but the first line is all quilts and very colorful when I got a little closer. It made me recall how my mother did the same thing... first real spring day and she was hanging the laundry on the lines in the back yard (am I really old enough to remember days before modern washer/driers? wow!). The line of daffodils in the other photo was just further proof of our early spring. I was seeing the first forsythia coming into bloom, the beginnings of the fruit trees blossoming and, of course, the farmers out with tractors and plows getting an early start on their spring planting. I had a kind of strong headwind to contend with for much of the ride but it is far less hostile when it is warm. And when I got home (from fifty miles of back roads) I headed out to the back deck with a beer and watched the ducks paddling around our pond and fighting over the affections of the very popular single female. It doesn't get much better.

March and the end of winter....

The end of winter??? What winter? Did winter ever begin? Not that it has been swimming pool weather these past few months but certainly this has been a most unusual winter. I cannot ever remember having the few hundred miles I have clocked to date on this date. Today was cloudy with only occasional peeks of sun and there was a strong (stronger than I anticipated when I went out) wind that became cold and biting whenever I made a turn that created a headwind. And a headwind it was for the last maybe 12 out of 15 miles...I got home, headed for the shower and simply luxuriated under the hottest water I could tolerate. I was coming down the last stretch mentally comparing my ride with a couple of ski trips I remember from many years ago.

On the other hand we have had so much fair weather and sun I saw daffodils in full bloom in a number of spots today - daffodils I associate with the middle of April not March 4! The photo is a farm field which should be still brown but already things are turning green and the farmer has to be thinking of getting out his plow and discs. And even though I can remember having snow for Easter a couple times in New Jersey the forecast is for a beautiful week in the days to come and I am not betting on any more snow this year...riding yes, but winter is on it's way out.

Winter sports

February first and the temperature hit (at least) 66 today. Our northern winter is more like springtime in Northern California. I finished the month of January as I had started it - i.e. a ride through the countryside east of our new home. I actually rode something over 250 miles in January and would have done more were it not for a bit of wet weather and a really persistent bad cold. I don't think I can ever remember doing so many miles in January other than a couple of Florida vacations. And if I remember correctly last year around this time we were looking out at something like three feet of accumulated white stuff. I've also discovered a couple of cyclists living here in our new community. One is a fellow traveler from my Anchor House rides and the other a very active member of the local bike club. I went out with them one day last week and it included a monthly lunch with another 20 or so cyclists from the same club - I'm still missing my rides through the hilly areas of the Delaware and the Sourlands but the trade off might be riding with a bunch kindred biking souls. I may even join the bike club, something I've never really thought necessary in the past...Meantime I've also noticed others around the country experiencing this unseasonable weather: Illinois, Colorado, northern Jersey. It is truly a strange weather year. Let's hope the groundhog does not see a shadow tomorrow: with a winter like this spring will be like summer and I am ready....

Happy New Year

For whatever strange reason - watching the Rose Parade?, watching it snow? nursing a hangover? - I don't think I have ever done a ride on New Year's day. It is an iconic biking experience kind of like doing a century or cracking fifty mph on a downhill but up 'til now it has eluded me. So yesterday the new year dawned bright and clear and, because we did not party the night before, early as well. Even the Rose Parade, one of my annual excuses was postponed until today (never on Sundays). With the temperature heading up toward 55 - unseasonably warm for these parts - I suited up and headed out to the country. Susan's parting words were "be careful, there are still a lot of drunks out there" but I found just the opposite. Leaving the house about 10:30 I found the roads virtually deserted. In fact the first couple of vehicles I encountered were of the two-wheeled variety. There were cyclists out competing for road space with runners but almost no auto traffic. It was in fact a great ride. The sun was bright, there was a bit of a breeze but not enough to cause discomfort. Riding through Assunpink, a nearby nature reservation, the horsey set was out in force - maybe 15 to 20 riders and some in full red hunting gear scattered throughout the park and, of course, most called out a cheery Happy New Year as I rode by. Along one of the horse farms I stopped by white-fenced pasture and a couple of curious colts came over to see what this curious creature in bright yellow was all about. I assumed that the whinny was a seasonal greeting. And just down the same road I passed a small lake just as a huge flock - numbering easily in the hundreds - of snow geese came in for a landing. We see lots of Canada geese but snow geese are a rarity (at least to me) in this area. All in all a pretty good ride...44 miles at a respectable 16 mph (did I mention I also discovered a new road: Backbone Hill Road - just enough climb to keep me honest) and I was home in time to prepare for a dinner party with friends last night. I started off 2011 thinking I would go back to Ohio and complete the cross-country that was so rudely interruped a couple of years ago. The prospect of the Maine to Florida ride looked like the better deal and I am so glad I did it. Because of mechanical problems I had to ride three days on borrowed bikes, we all spent a lot more time perfecting our "riding in the rain" skills than ever we wished for, but the experience of riding the entire east coast, the reunion with old friends and meeting of new all made the ride the highlight of the year for me. I also started with my usual goal of completing 5,000 miles and I was just shy of that mark - 4930 to be exact - moving into our new house has put a severe crimp into my cycling routine. With the furniture in place, the pictures on the walls, and the boxes unpacked I do expect that 2012 will see me back on the roads. And to any who may be reading this I wish you the wind at your back and a year of long downhills.